Edge lighted signs, information boards and writing tablets are generally known. Such devices generally comprise a transparent plate, such as a pane of glass, mounted upright upon a base. The base houses a light source, such a fluorscent lightbulb. The transparent plate is mounted to allow light to enter the plate through its lower edge, which lower edge is in close proximity to the lightbulb. A message or design is inscribed in or written on the transparent plate. Light which has entered the transparent plate is reflected within the crystal structure of the plate and eventually leaves the plate in different directions, thereby illuminating the writing or design born by the plate. Examples of such edge lighted signs are described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,707,965, issued to Scantlebury on Apr. 2, 1929, U.S. Pat. No. 1,931,742, issued to Scharringhausen on Oct. 24, 1933, U.S. Pat. No. 2,564,110, issued to Howenstine on Aug. 14, 1952, U.S. Pat. No. 2,566,458, issued to Macau on Sept. 4, 1951, U.S. Pat. No. 2,611,981, issued to Whitebread on Sept. 30, 1952, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,255,873, issued to Eberle on Mar. 17, 1981.
These prior art edge-lighted signs are generally useful, but are not particularly simple in structure, economical, light in weight, or easy to assemble.